Few people in media have had as powerful or as consistent an impact in shaping the national discussion around politics as Matt Drudge, the longtime editor of the Drudge Report and famous recluse. A quarter century ago, he stormed the national scene breaking the news of then-president Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, he became the country’s “assignment editor” driving the news with his lo-fi site, and then he vanished.
For our sixth episode of the 24sight Pod, National politics reporter Tom LoBianco spoke with longtime journalist Chris Moody who set out to quite literally find Drudge and try to answer the question of why he disappeared and what made him sour on then-President Donald Trump and more.
Moody’s podcast, “Finding Matt Drudge”, just finished an eight-episode run, distributed through iHeart Media – when you’re not listening to the 24sight pod, we highly recommend Moody’s examination of Drudge.
The series starts with Drudge’s combative relationship with longtime media giants – at once revering old school newsmen paying homage wearing a fedora, while also resenting the pedigreed journalists of the Washington Post, New York Times. Then carries through Drudge’s rise, as he smashed though gates and rose to power, often lording over those same institutions which used to dismiss him with his power to drive web traffic.
Moody also discussed Drudge’s role in helping Trump win the Republican nomination and later breaking with him, as so many have over the years.
“He was already against Trump before January 6, but I think he just got tired of him, just didn't think Trump was worth the squeeze – what you had to put up with to get the policy outcomes,” Moody said. “That's the big debate on the right anyway, ‘Is the juice worth the squeeze with Trump?’ And I think Drudge for either his own personal, policy, or professional reasons, decided, ‘No.’”
And Moody hints at the big reveal at the end of the “Finding Matt Drudge” pod – Drudge was keeping tabs on him the whole time.
“Whenever I would write something. I'm a journalist, I write a lot for The Washington Post and other places, he'd link to my stories,” Moody said. “We did an interview with Megyn Kelly and he linked to our interview in the show. And so he was listening, he was keeping an eye on us.”
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Cheers,
Pilar, Tom and Warren
Episode 6: Drudge: ‘He was keeping an eye on us’